More than 1,500 businesses in Buena Park will be asked to provide information on hazardous materials they store or handle as the Fire Department updates its inventory. The department will take six months to develop a Hazardous Materials Inventory Program, which will enable it to take precautions in dealing with accidents and fires. The businesses will also be asked to develop safety measures as well as plans for handling of hazardous materials.

Garden Grove Fire Chief Lon Cahill is urging residents to attend one of four workshops being offered about the county's plans for disposal of hazardous materials. "This is an important process," Cahill said. "It will occur with or without our input. And it involves decisions that we're all going to have to live with for a very long time." The workshops, sponsored by the Orange County Tanner Advisory Committee and the League of Women Voters, are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

The Berkeley City Council approved the nation's only local nanotechnology regulations, another first for the city famous for taking the lead banning Styrofoam containers, desegregating public schools and divesting public funds from South Africa. The council on Tuesday decided to amend its hazardous materials law to include nano-sized particles -- some as small as one-millionth the width of the head of a pin. The change takes effect Friday.

The Simi Valley City Council tentatively decided Monday to require businesses to prove that they are handling hazardous materials safely. The proposed ordinance is designed to help the city prevent accidents connected with the manufacture, storage and disposal of hazardous chemicals, officials said. "We want to make sure everyone is operating safely," said Jocelyn Reed, deputy director of the city's Department of Environmental Services. "We're making sure nothing slips through the cracks."

Disposing of oil-soaked rags, used insecticide cans and other hazardous household waste will soon be more convenient for county residents as new collection sites open. Only one site, in Anaheim, now accepts hazardous household trash. But within a year, at least five new sites will open in the county, including two in Huntington Beach and Stanton within a few months, said Janice Oest, coordinator for the county Fire Department's hazardous materials collection program.

The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles is conducting a criminal investigation into Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s handling of merchandise classified as hazardous waste. The world's largest retailer said in a regulatory filing that prosecutors were probing potential violations of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which regulates the transportation, handling and disposal of waste.

The Environmental Protection Agency, using Coast Guard personnel, today will begin a cleanup of large drums of hazardous waste left behind when a photo-engraving company was evicted from its building on the city's east side. Patrick Denny, a spokesman for the city, said the E.C. Kraemer Co. was cited 18 months ago by the city for storing about 170 steel drums of hazardous material behind the building at 1010 E. Lacy Ave. The case is still pending, he said.

The USA Patriot Act gave the government expanded powers to spy on citizens, lock up immigrants and freeze the assets of charities. Now, it is generating some real controversy. On Friday, 18 months after the anti-terrorism law was enacted, transportation security officials finally announced implementation of one of its last major features: criminal background checks for truck drivers who haul hazardous materials. The requirement was inserted in the law after Sept.

It's spring cleaning time and householders who have accumulated partially filled paint cans, used motor oil, pesticides, pool chemicals, solvents or similar products can dispose of them at four Household Hazardous Waste Round-Ups beginning April 28 in Pasadena. The Pasadena collection point will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Rose Bowl Parking Lot K at Arroyo Boulevard and Seco Street.